


New Beginnings

by MakiMosa



Category: AI: The Somnium Files (Video Game)
Genre: Date talks a big game but is awkward af, F/M, Post-Canon, Spoilers, post true ending, silly fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-12-22 19:13:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21081689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MakiMosa/pseuds/MakiMosa
Summary: Post-True Route Ending. Date is unsure how to proceed with Hitomi after regaining his memories. Family fluff.





	New Beginnings

Date shifts uncomfortably in his seat, scratching at the stubble on his jawline. Across him is Hitomi, separated by a coffee table on which two steaming cups of tea sit untouched.

It’s a scene both cloyingly familiar and alien to him; like he’s watched it on repeat in some well-loved childhood film.

He crosses and uncrosses his legs before leaning forward so his forearm rests on one of his knees. Hitomi’s eyes take on an unreadable shine; his posture is one he took on after his “rebirth”.

_Need I provide some ice-breaker suggestions, Date? _Aiba’s sardonic voice rings in his ears.

_No, _he responds, miffed. _I’m a seasoned professional. I know how to talk to women, Aiba._

He can tell she’s considering a smart-ass reply, but she simply answers, _If you say so. _

“So, uh,” he clears his throat. His voice is gravelly in his ears; he still hasn’t gotten used to it. “Is Iris fully recovered now?”

Hitomi smiles at him. “Yes, thank goodness. She still gets a little fatigued, but she’s certainly her chipper old self. Though I do wish she would take it easy on the dancing for the time being!” She lets out a girlish giggle.

In one of the back rooms, Date can hear Mizuki and Iris yelling excitedly. They’re playing some sort of fighting game. Iris had attempted to show him before, but it was much too chaotic for him to make sense of anything, and in the end it just gave him a headache.

“They certainly seem to be having fun, don’t they?” HItomi’s voice is light with amusement, and something in Date’s chest constricts.

“Hitomi…”

She looks concerned, and raises her eyes to meet his.

“I, uh…” He rubs at the deep lines underneath his eyes, swallowing silently before continuing. “I have a lot I want to say to you, and I don’t really know how,” he says slowly, quietly.

Both Hitomi and Aiba say nothing. The silence is deafening.

“I’m not the same man I was. Back then.” His gaze falls on the shoulder above her immobile arm. “I suppose a big reason for that is thanks to you.”

“Falco…”

His face takes on a pained expression. “_Please _don’t. I’m trying to tell you – I’m not _him. _Not anymore. As much as I would like to pick up where we left off, I don’t think I…can.”

_I barely know who I am, or who you are, or how I feel _he wants to say. His expression says it for him.

To his surprise, Hitomi appears neither hurt nor unprepared for his words. Instead, she dips her head, a patient smile on her lips. “I know,” she says softly. Then, she leans across the table, and takes one of his hands in her own. “You don’t owe me anything, Date. I never want you to feel otherwise.” Her soft fingers wrap around his calloused ones, and the warmth that stems from them spreads throughout his core.

_-Your body temperature is rising rapidly, Date. Are you perhaps excited about something?_

_-Shut UP, Aiba!_

Date is paralyzed, the stimulus from the touch of her hand overpowering. Her eyes are impossibly deep, and somehow, staring into them he feels…

Safe.

Home.

His throat bobs as he fights to free his words. “I can’t – I don’t want to promise anything but—“

_-Nice way to start a proposition, Date. I can see her swooning already._

_-Aiba, I swear to God I will rip you out myself if you don’t shut the FUCK up_

Hitomi cocks her head slightly, and Date realizes it looks like he just spaced out.

“Look – I mean to say, I wouldn’t mind trying to—to start over. Something new. I mean, if you’re interested.”

At this, Hitomi’s eyes widen in astonishment. Date opens his mouth, ready to unleash a cascade of retractions.

“I would love to.”

His mouth snaps shut with an audible click. “You. You would?”

Her face is beaming now, and she looks just as he knows she did when she was younger. “Of course I would.”

“O-okay!”

_-You sound surprised._

_-Oh, come off it. It’s just—this has never really worked for me, okay?_

_-Oh? I thought you were a ‘seasoned professional’_

A loud bang startles them out of the moment as Mizuki bursts out of Iris’ room. “Date, I’m hungry!”

He levels an annoyed glare at her. “What happened to that game you were playing?”

“Mizuki kept losing so she got sick of it,” Iris snickers, emerging after Mizuki. Her expression brightens into one of hopeful curiosity as she volleys her gaze from her mother to him.

Suddenly feeling self-conscious, Date stands and beckons to Mizuki. “Alright, fine. Let’s go.”

“Can we get stew?”

“Mizuki, we have food at home.”

“But I want stew! You keep promising but you never take me!”

He lets out a long-suffering sigh before turning his attention back to Hitomi. “So we’ll…I’ll call you later?”

She smiles, and perhaps he imagines it, but he can almost see a small blush color her cheeks. “I’ll be looking forward to it.”


End file.
